The Week Ahead
Good news — the week is looking mostly bright. Expect sunny spells Monday, Tuesday, and Friday with temperatures nudging 12–13°C. Thursday brings some rain but it will hopefully clear quickly.
Mon 23 🌤 | Tue 24 ⛅ | Wed 25 😎 | Thu 26 🌧️ | Fri 27 ☁️ | Sat 28 ☁️🌦️
This week, we're shining a light on Willow & Wild — Kate Collins' two cafés in Maynooth and Leixlip — and rounding up all the Seachtain na Gaeilge events happening near you.
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Willow & Wild
There's a detail about Willow and Wild that Kate Collins mentions almost in passing, but it's probably the most important thing to know about the place: they make everything from scratch.
The bread is baked fresh every morning. The meats are seasoned and cooked in-house. The chutneys, the jams, the sauces — all made on site. The cakes on the counter weren't delivered by a van at seven in the morning. Kate knows this has become unusual. "That's actually quite rare these days," she says, and she's right.
Kate is Ballymaloe-trained and Celbridge-born, which goes some way to explaining both the food and the locations. She opened the Maynooth café in 2017, and the Leixlip one followed in 2023 — in a building directly across the road from Scoil Mhuire, where she went to primary school.
The two cafés run breakfast and lunch through the week, with an all-day brunch menu at weekends that's built a following of its own. They also do occasion cakes for birthdays, christenings and weddings, with flowers sourced from Ab Fab in Celbridge for the wedding orders. On the retail side, both spots carry a selection of Irish food products, coffee, books and cards.
The customer mix at any given table on a Friday morning — new parents, retirees, a table of builders working through a full Irish — is something Kate talks about with evident satisfaction. It's not manufactured atmosphere. It's just what happens when a place gets the basics right and the people behind the counter are genuinely glad to be there. Kate's fairly clear-eyed about that last part: she'll tell you that staff culture determines the customer experience before anyone's even ordered, and that a happy, settled team is felt the moment you walk in.
When we asked Kate what the most popular item on the menu is, she said - “Definitely our pancakes!! On the menu since day one. Blueberry compote, homemade lemon curd and mascarpone whip.“. But Kate herself prefers the wholesome poached eggs with Willow & Wild’s homemade brown bread.
The famous pancakes - blueberry compote, homemade lemon curd and mascarpone whip.
Alongside Ab Fab, Kate is also a huge fan of the Leixlip Farmers Market, and gives full credit to the organisers for what they've built. Both Willow & Wild locations are on Instagram and Facebook at @willowandwild, and you can reach them at [email protected].
P.S. - My current favourite item on the menu is the Apple Crunch Pancakes!
What’s Happening
🚧 Roads & Rail
The Kellystown Road (L1015) closure in Leixlip has been extended all the way to 15 May — follow the signed diversions via Captain's Hill and Leixlip Main Street. Good news though — it briefly reopens from 30 March to 12 April for the Easter break before closing again. (Source: kildarecoco.ie)
Castletown Drive in Celbridge is on a rolling closure until 9 May for the Maynooth Water Network Upgrade — use R405/Main Street as directed. (Source: kildarecoco.ie)
If you live near the Maynooth train line, there are overnight track works every night this week (Mon–Sat, roughly 11:30pm–6:30am) — expect some noise. (Source: irishrail.ie)
📰 Local News
The big Uisce Éireann pipeline project behind all those road closures between Maynooth and Leixlip will eventually create capacity for up to 11,500 new homes in Maynooth and Kilcock — more closures expected later in 2026 with advance notice.
Maynooth's own Paul Mescal won the IFTA 2026 Best Supporting Actor award for his role in Hamnet!
🏫 Schools
Junior Infants enrolment at Scoil Mochua in Celbridge closes Sunday 15 March — you'll need the enrolment form, birth cert, and proof of address. (Source: scoilmochua.com)
Celbridge Community School has post-primary enrolment open for 2026–27 — no closing date listed so contact the school office soon. (Source: celbridgecs.ie)
🏉 Sport
The Kildare hurlers were away to Down yesterday (Sun 1 Mar) in Round 5 of the Allianz Hurling League — a strong North Kildare contingent in the starting 15 including players from Maynooth and Celbridge.
Maynooth's Mark Travers is in goal for Everton when they host Burnley this Tuesday (3 Mar) in the Premier League.
The Celbridge GAA Lotto jackpot is at €3,500 — tickets at SuperValu, the Club House, Village Inn, or online at celbridgegaa.com/lotto.
📅 Other things happening this week
This week marks Seachtain na Gaeilge (running until 17 March) and there are events all over the place — including a family bingo night in Leixlip Library (Thu 12 Mar), an Irish-language film screening in Leixlip (Tue 3 Mar, 6pm), a music workshop for kids at Maynooth Library (Sat 7 Mar, 3pm), and Irish conversation circles in both Celbridge and Leixlip libraries. Check your local library for the full list. (Source: kildarecoco.ie)
Every week there are loads of free events happening in your local libraries in Maynooth, Celbridge, and Leixlip — like storytime, crochet, toddler groups, conversation circles, and much more. Check kildarecoco.ie/library for the full March schedule.
There is a comedy night at The Salmon Leap Inn in Leixlip this Friday (6 Mar, 8:30pm) — tickets on Eventbrite. (Source: eventbrite.ie)
Thinking of becoming a childminder, or want to know about registration? Kildare Childcare Committee's Elaine is at Leixlip Library this Friday (6 Mar, 11am–1pm) — just drop in. (Source: kildarecoco.ie)
Thinking about going back to college? Maynooth University's Postgraduate Open Day is this Tuesday (3 Mar) at the TSI Building. (Source: maynoothuniversity.ie)
That’s it for this week.
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Thanks,
Dave